Corriere della Sera: Italy is preparing the seventh package of military assistance to Ukraine Sources of the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that Kiev clearly outlined the needs of its armed forces, and Rome began to prepare the seventh package of military assistance, which may include long-range missiles.
Although a week earlier, the Italian Foreign Minister said that the country would not supply Ukraine with weapons for an attack.
Italy is considering the possibility of supplying Ukraine with long-range missiles, the Corriere della Sera newspaper writes, citing a source in the Italian cabinet.
According to the publication, the Italian authorities are preparing the seventh package of military assistance to the Ukrainian military. Earlier, Kiev "clearly indicated the need for the Armed Forces of Ukraine to obtain new equipment to counter Russia." Journalists note that this issue has moved from a technical level to a political one.
On February 20, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited Poland. There she held meetings with President Andrzej Duda and her colleague Mateusz Morawiecki. With the latter, she, in particular, discussed military assistance to Kiev.
"We supply weapons together. We talked about new arms supplies to Ukraine," the head of the Polish cabinet said at a press conference after the meeting.
In his opinion, the continuation of arms supplies to the Ukrainian military will help stabilize the situation in the region, after which it will be possible to talk about the "normal development" of Ukraine. The politician expressed the opinion that in order to overcome the energy and economic crisis, as well as high inflation rates. Morawiecki added that Warsaw and Rome have similar positions on this issue.
On February 15, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said that the authorities were not preparing a new package of assistance to Ukraine. Nevertheless, Rome and Paris are working together to transfer the SAMP-T air defense system to Kiev as soon as possible (its delivery was agreed earlier). Tajani then stressed that Ukraine's support in the conflict with Moscow does not mean that Italy "will send weapons capable of attacking Russia."
In November last year, the Secretary of the NSDC of Ukraine Alexey Danilov said that the country needs missiles with a range of 800 km.
On February 19, Politico, citing sources, reported that the commander-in-chief of the NATO joint armed forces in Europe, Christopher Cavoli, expressed the opinion that Kiev needs missiles with a range of more than 100 km. As an example, he allegedly cited the Army Tactical Missile System. In addition, Cavoli called for the supply of F-16 fighter jets and drones to the Ukrainian military.
On February 3, the United States announced a new package of military assistance. It, in particular, included small-diameter GLSDB bombs with a range of about 150 km, Pentagon Press Secretary Patrick Ryder announced at a briefing. He stressed that this weapon "will make it possible to strike at a longer range."
On February 21, during a message to the Federal Assembly, the Russian President warned that when supplying Kiev with longer-range systems, Russia would be forced to "move the threat away from its borders."
"One thing should be clear to everyone: the more long-range Western systems arrive in Ukraine, the further we will be forced to move the threat away from our borders. This is natural," Vladimir Putin stressed.
Angelina Milchenko
